Nearly 20 Percent of California’s Cannabis Products Failing Lab Tests

In the two months following the July 1 implementation of California’s new and stricter cannabis industry regulations, the state’s 31 licensed labs managed to test 10,695 product samples. Of those, 1,904 failed Bureau of Cannabis Control requirements, according to the Associated Press. In other words, 18 percent of all cannabis products tested in California did not meet the new standards. But largely the reasons for failure weren’t due to dangerous or harmful products or contaminant levels. Rather, incongruities between package labeling and the product itself were the leading cause of failed lab tests.

Are Strict New Packaging and Labeling Requirements To Blame for Testing Failures?

In California’s first two months of cannabis product testing, the number one reason for failure wasn’t pesticides (403) or mold contamination (114). It wasn’t residual solvents or chemicals (99) or foreign materials (6). Rather, a full two-thirds of all the failures (1,279) were due to inaccurate packaging; claims that didn’t match up against the actual products therein.

And in terms of the types of products, edibles, tinctures and lotions had the highest rate of failure: 33 percent. Cannabis buds had the lowest failure rate at 10.6 percent, while oils and waxes (i.e. concentrates) for vaping and